The cost and availability of childcare for working parents became a major political issue in the recent Meath and North Kildare byelections. The poor showing of the Government parties was attributed, in part, to their failure to address this important lifestyle issue with sufficient urgency and understanding.
As a consequence - and in anticipation of the coming general election - the Progressive Democrats have published proposals for the development of a childcare policy involving income tax relief and training for childminders.
This is a useful initiative and, hopefully, will serve to open up political and public debate on what, for many young couples living in the sprawling conurbations in greater Dublin and the adjoining counties which comprise the newly-developing East region, has become a major quality-of-life issue. Childcare costs in Ireland are the highest in Europe, with parents spending about twice the EU average on such facilities.
In the past, governments were reluctant to provide specific income tax relief for pre-school creche costs because it might be seen as discriminating against stay-at-home mothers. Instead, they addressed the issue by increasing child benefit payments for all and by introducing grants for the establishment of voluntary and private creche facilities. This system operates under the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform. While 24,500 pre-school places have been provided during the past five years, the ESRI estimated there will be a shortfall of more than 40,000 places by 2010.
The chairman of the Progressive Democrats, John Minihan, took an economic and social perspective on the issue. High childminding costs - where facilities were available - discouraged women from participating in the workforce and threatened economic growth, he said. They also placed severe strain on the quality of family life. He proposed that tax concessions be made available for both the users and the providers of pre-school facilities. In the longer term, he advocated the development of out-of-hours services for school-going children through the utilisation of existing primary school facilities. Professional training would be provided for child-carers. And boards of management would be required by law to provide for childcare schemes on parents' request.
There may be constitutional and other difficulties with the approach suggested by the Progressive Democrats. The relevant interest groups, including teachers, the churches, employers, trade unions and political parties should engage in a public debate on a matter which will climb up the political agenda in the next general election.